If someone you know and love has problems with alcohol or substance use, you want what’s best for them. You want them to heal, grow, and learn how to live without the use of alcohol or drugs. Our evidence-based outpatient programs allow your loved one to continue working and living at home during treatment.
Our programs include weekly support meetings for family, close friends, loved ones, and chosen family. These meetings provide education about addiction and recovery and information about what to expect when someone close to you has a drug or alcohol problem.
A Family Approach
At Kolmac, we know that outcomes improve when we involve the family in the treatment process. An alcohol use disorder or substance use disorder affects not only the person with the disorder, but also the people who care about them – including family, friends, spouses, and partners.
How to Recognize Addiction
If you think a friend, family member, or someone you care about has a real problem with alcohol or drug use, consider the following list of questions provided by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to help determine whether their alcohol or drug use meets the criteria for an alcohol or substance use disorder (ADU/SUD), a.k.a., and addiction:
- Has their alcohol or drugs use escalated?
- Do they want to quit, but can’t?
- Do drugs or alcohol impair their ability to function at work, school, or home?
- Do they avoid social, recreational, or work activities to use drugs or alcohol?
- Have they continued to drink or use drugs despite negative consequences they know are caused by drinking or using drugs?
If you answer yes to these questions, please urge them to consider seeking professional support at Kolmac: it might save their life. We offer evidence-based treatment for alcohol and substance use disorder (AUD/SUD) at seven convenient locations in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
If you’re scared, confused, or simply don’t know what to do or how to help, we understand. You can start by calling Kolmac. We know what to do.
We Help You While Your Loved One Gets Help
When your loved one commits to treatment, our clinicians and staff work on teaching them the skills and tools they need for a successful recovery. This includes relapse prevention, addressing problem behaviors, and lifestyle changes that promote overall health and wellness. During this phase, Kolmac staff encourages you to participate in the treatment process.
Weekly Family and Friends Support Meetings
We offer confidential groups for loved ones, family, and friends. These groups provide education about addiction and recovery, support for family members, and a safe place to ask questions, raise issues, discuss setbacks, and celebrate successes.
Family, Friends, and Chosen Family
We know family means more than an official relative. We welcome spouses, partners, close friends, and anyone with a vested interest in helping the patient get better. We encourage support group participants to offer their support and experiences to other people in our family groups. However, family members are not required to speak: they can just listen to what others have to share, and learn how to best support their loved one by learning from the experiences of others.
Everyone Needs a Support System
We urge each patient to have at least one person attend family group sessions as often as possible. For young adults – i.e. people between the ages of 19 and 25 who live at home – we require at least one parent to attend our family group sessions. We’ve learned – and decade of evidence proves – that both patients and their families have a better likelihood of promoting successful, long-term recovery when everyone talks, listens, and learns about addiction and treatment together.
